Hulu lowers Japan subscription fee

Hulu has lowered its flat-rate service fee to ¥980 per month from ¥1,480, effective Thursday, to lure more subscribers to its streaming video content.

The U.S. company launched a video-on-demand service in Japan in September last year, offering subscribers unlimited access to movies and TV dramas fed to devices like network-capable TVs, mobile phones, personal computers and game consoles.

More than 725 movies and 5,000 TV dramas are available, up three times from last September while subscribers in Japan have been steadily climbing, Hulu officials said.

The Los Angeles-based company has tapped the Japanese market as its first venture outside the United States.